Kerchak
Kerchak is a secondary character in Tarzan. He is the leader of the gorillas and Kala is his mate. Background Personality Kerchak often appeared to be cold, judgmental, aggressive, and always jumps to conclusions. Tarzan noted that he felt threatened by anyone that was different from gorillas. Throughout most of Tarzan's early life, Kerchak treated him with disdain and disapproval and refused to accept him as his son. However, after Tarzan returned to rescue Kerchak and his family, Kerchak finally grew to respect him and tried to protect Tarzan from Clayton which cost him his life. While he was dying, Kerchak asked Tarzan to forgive him for never treating him as a member of his family and finally believed that Tarzan was his son. Before the death of his biological child, Kerchak appeared to be warmer and more playful as he was seen playing with the baby gorilla but after the child was killed by Sabor, he grew cold and grumpy. Despite his intimidating demeanor, Kerchak cared deeply about his family and was willing to risk his life to protect them. He did occasionally show a caring side and when Tarzan was presumed dead after falling off a cliff, Kerchak tried to comfort Kala. Kerchak was a powerful fighter and his massive frame gave him the advantage over most opponents. However he could be outmaneuvered by more agile fighters as shown when he fought against Sabor who used her superior speed to gain the advantage before Tarzan intervened. Designs Kerchak is a large, adult male gorilla with black hair and grey skin. His forearms are enormous and his head is rather large. His eyes are brown and small in comparison to the rest of his head. Appearances Tarzan In the beginning they are shown happy together with a young gorilla child of their own. During the night, the child wanders off while Sabor the leopard is out hunting she gets too close and kills him. Heartbroken, Kala goes off on her own. Hearing a baby's cries, she goes to a treehouse and finds Tarzan's parents also murdered by Sabor. She finds the baby Tarzan and decides to bring him home with her now that he's an orphan. But first, she has to rescue him from Sabor who has come back. She manages to temporarily subdue her by tangling her in some ropes. She shows him to Kerchak who tells her that he will never be a part of the family because he's not a real gorilla. Over the years, Kerchak becomes annoyed and frustrated with Tarzan for constantly interrupting him. One day, when Tarzan is an adult while gathering fruit for their dinner, Kerchak is attacked by Sabor and nearly succeeds in killing him until Tarzan pounces on her and pulls her off him, and they fight. Tarzan gets wounded by her and receives claw marks across his right breast, he then raises his spear at her, but she's too fast and breaks it and knocks the head onto the flimsy covering of a pit. Tarzan runs after it, and while reaching for it, Sabor pounces on him, and they fall into the pit after some struggling. Everything goes quiet, and Sabor appeared to emerge alone, but it's just Tarzan, pushing her out, and she's actually dead. Tarzan shows Kerchak her body and he finally accepts him as part of the family. When suddenly, they are interrupted by a gunshot scattering the gorillas, Kerchak and Kala warn him to stay away from the humans, but he doesn't listen and meets a beautiful young British woman named Jane Porter whom he rescues from some baboons. After a while, she and her father teach him English and about the world outside the jungle. Their guide Clayton is only concerned about his connection to the gorillas, so he can hunt them and sell them to the zoo in England. After a time, Tarzan is comfortable enough to introduce the humans to his family, everything goes fine until Clayton points his gun at Kala which enrages Kerchak and tries to kill him, and Tarzan is forced to restrain him after some difficulty. After some time, he tells Tarzan that he had betrayed his family and Tarzan, confused and ashamed, leaves, but first he says good-bye to Kala. Upon entering the ship, Tarzan, Jane, and her father are ambushed by Clayton's men and locked in a cell, he had invited the men over to capture the gorillas. Upon reaching the island, many gorillas are captured. Kerchak tries to fight them off before being tied up, and the wicked Clayton plans to stuff him so he points his gun at his head. Kerchak's rescued by Tarzan whom had escaped with the help of Terk and Tantor, and they help fight off the men and save the gorillas. Tarzan then rescues Kala with the help of Jane, but he gets shot in the arm by Clayton. Kerchak comes to his rescue, but he also gets shot. Enraged, Tarzan battles Clayton in the treetops, and he breaks his gun, ties him up with vines full of anger, and not thinking clearly, Clayton takes out a machete and starts hacking away at the vines, but fails to notice one wrapping around his neck the vine snaps, and Clayton's body falls to his death until the vine catches on a branch and snaps his neck. Tarzan comes to tend to Kerchak's wounds, but it is too late. He was fatally wounded by the gunshot. In his dying breath, he tells Tarzan that he accept him as his son, names Tarzan as his successor and tells him to protect the family, then passes away in Tarzan's arms. Tarzan II Kerchak is first seen at a lake taking a puddle in his hand to drink but he is then splashed in the face by Tarzan while he was chasing Terk, Kerchak then looks angrily at Tarzan and rolls his eyes and watches three young baby gorillas follow Tarzan and Terk. He then leads the family across a log but when he notices that the log was going to fall, he tells the family to run. He then runs to an injured Kala who tried to save Tarzan who did not make it to the other side while the family did. He then comforts a mourning Kala who believed Tarzan was dead but he was actually unconscious and is still alive. The Legend of Tarzan Kerchak appears in a flashback in Tarzan and Tublat's Revenge, where he is shown fighting Tublat. Kerchak eventually defeats Tublat but the aggressive ape then grabs a branch and knocks Kerchak out unconscious. As Tublat prepares to finish Kerchak, a young Tarzan threw two coconuts at him and broke his nose, Tublat angrily attacks the boy, but Kerchak quickly steps in and stops Tublat and banishes the aggressive ape. He tells Tarzan that he is the one who protects the family and that Tarzan shouldn't have interfered. Kingdom Hearts (series) Kerchak is the leader of the gorillas and Tarzan's adoptive father. He was very nervous about trusting humans, and when Sora and friends came to Deep Jungle, there was no exception. Unlike the film, he was not killed by Clayton in the end and still remains the leader of the gorillas . Kingdom Hearts When Sora, Donald, and Goofy meet Kerchak, his distrust of outsiders causes him to treat them rather coldly. He even ignores Tarzan's request to take them to the waterfalls. But after Sora and company save the family from Clayton, he lets them into the waterfalls, where Sora seals the Keyhole of Deep Jungle. Gallery ﻿ Trivia *Kerchak appears to have the original novel equivalent's name, but the original novel version of Tublat's personality. In the novels, Kerchak was more violent and was responsible for the murder of Tarzan's father instead of Sabor in the film (in the books, Tarzan's mother died of natural causes). Paradoxically enough, the exact opposite is true with Tublat. *Kerchak is similar to Chief Powhatan and King Triton. All are the father of the protagonist (Kerchak, Tarzan Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Triton, Ariel) and a try to keep them away from the deuteragonist (Kerchak, Jane Porter because she is a human, Triton, Prince Eric because Ariel is a mermaid and he is a human and Powhatan, John Smith because he works for Governor Ratcliffe) but both see the errors of their ways). *Like real gorillas, Kerchak is depicted beating his chest with the palms of his hands as opposed to clenched fists commonly depicted in gorillas in both popular culture and public imagination. 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